Permanent makeup: creativity or business?

Nadezhda Kosolapova , cosmetologist, PM master teacher, speaker of PM conferences, organizer of the 1st and 2nd Crimean PM conferences, chairman of the jury of the 1st Crimean Permanent Makeup Championship, winner of the Leader of the Year 2017 award, founder of the Crimean Club of PM masters (Simferopol, Crimea)

The salary of a permanent makeup master, as a rule, depends on the number of clients and the cost of the procedure. Do you know how much you will earn, for example, next month, so that you can plan your expenses now? We suggest you start working on a kind of business plan that will allow you not only to clearly see your financial situation, but also to correctly allocate time between work and leisure.

When I learned permanent makeup, I dreamed of having a record of clients, like my teacher had - for two months in advance. Over time, I reached a six-month pre-appointment where 75% of the clients paid in advance! In this article, I want to share my own experience of analyzing current affairs in order to achieve my goal.

Many beginners look at the stars of the PM and strive to imitate them, they want to become popular, recognizable and make good money. Some understand that behind all this is planning and colossal work, support from loved ones, and large financial investments. That's how it all happens. Watch and copy. No need to invent a bicycle - just take advantage of someone else's experience and perform in your own way. To do this, it is better to choose successful masters from other cities or regions.

We go to the goal gradually

In the permanent makeup industry, you need to be able to not only perform the procedure well and with high quality. You also need to correctly position yourself, present your work, be able to make a unique offer - in general, find your niche at the moment.

To start or move to a new level, we all ask ourselves questions: “How can I do this?”, “What do I need?”, “Where to move?”, “How did she do it?” and the like. These are the right questions that help launch a flight of fancy and carefully look at the success of others, find differences in work, in promotion. But the basis of everything is always analysis and purpose.

You set a specific goal for yourself, after which you definitely need to analyze what you currently have, what you own, what is the situation as a whole. This makes it easier to understand where you are and how much time, effort and money you need to achieve your goal.

If the goal at the moment is heavy, complex, expensive, break it down into several small goals, which as a result will help to achieve such a difficult but interesting result from the beginning. Perhaps it will take a few days, perhaps a month, or maybe a couple of years, so sit down to write an analysis and plan today, because the wall is being built on a stone.

When people want to build a house, they start with the ground, the project, then the foundation comes, etc. Remember the huts that you made from blankets, sheets, burdocks as a child. Each time you got better and better, and it took less time, you already developed your own characteristics and schemes in building these huts. In our profession, it’s about the same: constantly achieving small goals, you develop qualities in yourself that help you no longer think, but simply do, and each time you understand better how to achieve the goal or speed up the process.

When you spend money on education, remember that you are investing in yourself! And investments with a well-designed business plan pay off and make a profit! So with every penny spent on education, business improvement, you get every chance to earn a hryvnia.

Keep track of all expenses

Now let's write it down on paper - the only way you can really analyze everything.

So, you need to calculate your costs to get started:

• money spent on education;
• the cost of the device;
• disposable consumable;
• workplace equipment (couch, lamp, chair, etc.);
• office rental (if any);
• advertising (business cards, flyers, accounts, website hosting, etc.);
• professional clothing and footwear;
• frames for certificates;
• mirrors etc...

Now count up.

You have received the amount of mandatory costs to start work. You already have it. And now we consider further: we need to find out the cost of future expenses for the next 6–12 months:

• how much you are expected to spend on training and development;
• additional device (any master has at least two devices);
• perhaps you want to switch to another brand of pigments (how much money is needed to purchase the entire line of colors);
• advertising in social networks, magazines, affiliate programs;
• decor or renovation in the office, new furniture;
• mandatory column for contingencies - indicate how much you are ready to spend spontaneously, and so on.

Calculate the total amount and divide it by 6-12 months. This is the amount you need to earn.

It is also important to know how many hours you need for one procedure in order to clearly understand how many clients per day you can accept. At the same time, do not forget about the extra time for cleaning the office, your current affairs, family and rest! Or determine how many days per month you will work, and, based on this, you can either increase the number of hours per working day, or reduce it.

Well, the next item is definitely not new for you: now you write the amount of mandatory payments per month, how much is required for your daily expenses, for maintaining a house / apartment, for a kindergarten / school, food, pocket expenses, car maintenance and the rest.

Business plan in action

Now you know the exact amount of expenses, upcoming expenses, mandatory payments and the number of working days. This information can be used in different ways. To achieve any goal, you need to calculate how much your procedure costs, determine its cost. Everyone is different, though! The average cost of a procedure is $20-$35, which means you can see from your calculations how much you are netting, how much you need for future expenses, and how many clients you can take. This gives you an understanding of current affairs. And here each master will be able to answer himself in fact: creativity or business?

Example:

• the amount of upcoming expenses per month (according to the plan) - $ 500;
• mandatory payments per month - $ 500;
• the cost of the procedure - $ 20;
• net profit (with a total cost of $100 for a new client) - $80;
• working days per month - 15;
• number of procedures per working day - 2 new clients;
• 30 new customers x $20 = $600 (cost);
• 30 new customers x $80 = $2,400 (net profit).

The total income is $ 3,000 per month, which means that I implement all the plans and even have the opportunity to set aside some of the money.

Clients pay you to put your ad on their faces. Think about it!

The material was first published in Permanent No. 3(11)/2018